Possible jail break busted

A woman sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to kill her husband with her lover is in trouble for what may have been a scheme to break out.

Michelle Theer, 41, was convicted in December 2004 of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. She is serving her sentence in the state women's prison in Raleigh.

Theer's husband, Air Force Capt. Marty Theer was shot and killed in December 2000. Army Staff Sgt. John Diamond was convicted of the murder and is serving a life sentence in a military prison.

Theer maintains her innocence. On her website www.michelletheer.org, she says she was wrongfully convicted, set up by her former lover, and asks visitors to keep an open mind as they read her side of the story.

According to the North Carolina Department of Corrections website, Theer is in disciplinary segregation. She is sitting in isolation for 45 days and is only allowed outside one hour a day.

A spokesperson confirms that staff at the Women's Correctional Institute intercepted mail that led them to believe she may have been trying to plan something.

"She did have items in her possession that could've been used to assist her and aid her in a possible escape," Warden Annie Harvey said.

The item, according to a Department of Correction spokesperson, was a map of the prison Theer drew herself and was trying to mail, possibly to coordinate an escape.

"We screen all mail coming into the prison. We run tests on outgoing mail and if there is any suspicion or detection we'll inspect it," said Harvey.

The Department of Correction won't say who Theer was in contact with, but the person likely won't face any charges at this point since Theer didn't receive the mail.

The warden wants to make it clear that Theer did not physically try to escape, but may have been planning to.

Harvey also says there hasn't been an escape since she took over in 2000 and she plans to keep it that way.

"I would like to assure the general public that it is our goal to make sure that Michelle Theer and all the inmates who are charged managed to stay there until their sentence is over," Harvey said.